


The Spring Theory

by XeraNova



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Original Universe, original - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22395229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XeraNova/pseuds/XeraNova
Summary: What would happen if Pokemon suddenly became real? Join Spring, Autumn, Summer, and Winter as they deal with the consequences of such an event changing their life for better or worse.
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. The Quiet Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pornographicpenguin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pornographicpenguin/gifts).



> To Tom, who's theory was the impetus for the creation of this story.  
> To AO3 user pornographicpenguin, who saw my painful-to-read first drafts and encouraged me to keep going.  
> To my wife, who's curiosity saw the creation of the second draft.  
> And to my girlfriend, who's eagerness to read the second draft embarrassed me into writing this third draft.
> 
> Without all of you, this story would have never seen the light of day.
> 
> Thank you.

“Listen, we should postpone until tomorrow, it’s the Spring Equinox!” Spring put his 3DS into his backpack and zipped it up, getting ready to head home after a long day at school and a short time playing Pokemon after school. His friends walk alongside him, similarly packing their bags up.

One of them spoke up, “You just want more time to get your team ready!”

“No, seriously! We should do it on some kind of special day!” He slings his multicolored pastel backpack onto his back and hops to position it in the most comfortable place. “And tomorrow just happens to be one of those special days!”

"Yeah, right!" another said. They all got a good laugh in before splitting up and heading each their own ways, leaving Spring to walk home alone as normal.

Spring brushes a bit of his brown hair off of his eyes and tucks it under his beanie, looking around the neighborhood and just generally taking in the scenery. He notes that a few houses are being moved into, but in spite of that it's abnormally quiet on his walk home today. His neighborhood is wooded, and trees surround most homes, but he doesn't even hear the faintest chirp of a bird despite the fact that the sun is still up. He doesn't see any of the cats that normally roam his neighborhood causing mischief. It's unsettling, but he tries to shrug it off, he's almost home after all.

As he eats dinner, he mentally plans his strategy for the Pokemon tournament tomorrow, trying to figure out how he'll take his Pokemon to victory. This is mostly how his life is, he wakes up, goes to school, plays Pokemon with his friends, then heads home. He eats dinner and does his homework, rinse and repeat, over and over, five days a week, every week, and he honestly doesn't want it to change.

He loads up his 3DS and copy of Pokemon Ultra Sun to use a few TMs on some of his Pokemon before turning it all off and plugging it in to charge. "Yeah, I'll definitely win tomorrow, I'm going to be the champion!" he thrusts his fist into the air as he says this and, realizing he probably looks silly, starts getting ready for bed.

He's got a big day tomorrow!

And then, he wakes up with a start. He forgot to set his alarm! He scrambles, getting clothes on and fumbles about making sure his backpack is packed, 3DS included. He throws on his shirt, shorts, a dozen or so bead bracelets, his favorite beanie, and of course his sloppily packed backpack, then he dashes out of his room. As he gets downstairs, he notices that his mom has actually prepared a really big breakfast for some reason, but he doesn't have time for that, he's late for school! He grabs some toast and bacon and downs his glass of orange juice, leaving the rest behind. "Sorry mom, I've gotta dash, I'm late for school!"

"Wait, Spring! You don't-" His mother called out, but Spring had already dashed out the door, he didn't have time! He ran down the streets that seemed even more quiet than they did the night before, and somehow managed to get some lost time back by running. He tried to eat as he went, but choked a bit on the toast as it wasn't buttered or anything.

After a bit more running, the school came into view, he'd barely made it on time. However, it seemed that didn't matter, the school's fence was closed for some reason? It looked like someone was sitting in front of it, one of the teachers. Before Spring could even get close, the man called out.

"Go home, Spring!" He waved his arm a bit dismissively, then went back to looking at his phone.

Spring continued to run towards the teacher, recognizing him as Mr. Knight as he approached. "Why? What's going on?"

"Haven't you seen the news, kid? Every single animal on the face of the planet and about a third of all people just vanished into thin air last night. There's no way we're holding school after that, we lost most of our teachers. Go home." Mr. Knight again made a shooing motion with his hands and glanced back down to his phone, Spring saw a few pictures that looked like Mr. Knight and some other man having fun together.

And before Spring could get any clarification, he heard a car door close behind him, and a girl's voice call out. "Excuse me, is this where orientation is happening for the transfer students?" Spring turned around to look at the newcomer as she approached, and Mr. Knight once again repeated himself.

"Go home, kid. School's closed for the day. Look at the news if you haven't. You'll get some mail or something when we open up again." He sighed a heavy sigh. "If we open up again..."

Spring spoke up as the girl also walked closer. "What do you mean all the animals vanished? And a third of all people? They just disappeared? How does that even happen?" The girl suddenly looked shocked. Apparently she hadn't heard this news yet either.

"Listen, Spring, my guess is as good as yours, but I can tell you with absolute certainty, they're gone." He made a waving motion with his free hand. "Poof, like magic."

The girl looked at Spring. "Is that really true? We haven't set up our TV yet at home, the… oh my god the moving guys didn't show up this morning." She grabbed her head in sudden realization.

"Yeah, it seems like you're finally getting it. Spring, why don't you hitch a ride home with this girl, it seems her driver's still here." Sure enough, whoever drove this girl here had their car idling in his same spot, waiting to figure out what happened, Spring assumed.

"Oh, uh, yeah, let me just ask my mom really quick." The girl went back and knocked on the driver's window, which promptly rolled down and revealed the girl's mother.

Spring turned back to Mr. Knight. "Why do you think this happened?"

"How am I supposed to know, kid? Jeez…"

"Sorry, it's just... impossible to even imagine…"

Mr. Knight sighed again, and looked back at his phone. "You have no idea, Spring."

After an awkward moment of silence, the girl called back. "Hey! Uh, Spring, right? How far away do you live from here?"

"Like a fifteen minute walk? It's not that far." Spring replied, still a bit dazed.

"My mom says she'll give you a ride!" The girl approached Spring once again. "I'm Autumn, by the way."

"Oh, nice to meet you Autumn, I'm… well, you already know my name, haha!" Spring rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and let himself be led by Autumn into the car. After Spring gave her mom directions, Autumn began talking to him.

"Well, despite all that seems to be going on right now, I hope we can maybe become friends!"

"Oh no… my friends!" Spring immediately pulled out his phone and sent texts to all of his friends, hoping for a response of any kind… but nothing came immediately. "Oh, s-sorry, yeah, I hope I can be your friend too, Autumn!" 

Autumn responded merely with a worried smile which was immediately followed by the car coming to a stop.

"This is the place, right?" Autumn's mom looked back at Spring.

"Yeah, thanks for the ride, ma'am."

"Don't mention it. You go inside and check up on anyone you can, okay? We really don't know what's going on, and it's good to have friends in times like these."

Autumn waved as Spring got out and headed inside.

"Honestly; I let you sleep in and make you a big breakfast to help break it to you that your cat is gone, but you go rushing out without listening to a word I have to say! The nerve!" Spring's mom chided him while waving a ladle around for emphasis.

"Sorry mom, I really should have set an alarm to wake up on time, that would have prevented all of this…" Spring didn't even realize that his cat, too, had been vanished along with the rest of the animals of the world. He'd gotten a few texts back, but it was his friend's parents telling him that his friends had disappeared. He sent this condolences each time. It was starting to look like things were going to be rough from now on.

"Well, just remember to set it next time, okay?" His mom reached for the TV remote and turned it back on.

__

"...does in fact appear that no animals remain. It seems to be that certain types of plants have also completely vanished. Most devastatingly, cotton."

"That is quite awful, Doctor. Do we have any indication that anything will come back?"

"Unfortunately, no. We have yet to find any indication that what has vanished will ever return."

"Well, that is indeed grim news. We hope with our viewers that those that have vanished will come back soon. Thank you for the interview, Doctor."

"Of course."

"Stay tuned for an update in a few minutes, at noon."

Spring's mom changed the channels only to find that they were all currently simul-casting the local news channel. "Goodness, it really is dire out there…"

Spring received the final response, all of his friends had vanished. He once more sent his condolences, and started to tear up.

And then, the ground shook. Spring didn't live even remotely close to a fault line or anything that could cause this. He saw his mom grab on to the counter as he himself got up out of the chair he was sitting in and tried to find something solid to grab on to, but he was starting to feel nauseous, and… dizzy? Spring grabbed on to a wall and held tight, it felt like everything was spinning so fast and he was getting really sick. He noticed his mom holding on to the counter, despite having been completely knocked out somehow.

Spring tried to figure out what was going on, but it was getting really hard to focus. "Ugh, what's… what's going on…?" He tried to hold on to the wall, but the edges of his vision started going black. He felt himself let go, but he didn't feel anything after.


	2. The Spring

Spring felt something licking his face. "C'mon Sammy… stop… I have to…" he started to remember what had just happened, and immediately jumped to his feet. "Sorry, Sammy, I'll give you some food later! Mom? Mom are you ok?"

His mom was still passed out on the counter, and he gently shook her awake. "Mmngg, what is it Spring?"

"Wake up! We have to make sure nothing in the house got damaged from the-" and Spring suddenly noticed that nothing had moved from where it was before the earthquake. Not even things loosely displayed on shelves. Everything was exactly the same and untouched. And then he heard a jingling as his cat got ready to jump on the table.

Wait.

His cat?

And, suddenly, he looked down at his cat Sammy right as she jumped onto the counter in a pink blur. When she landed, she turned to look at Spring.

"Skitty?"

And there was a Skitty, on the counter, right in front of him and his slowly awakening mother. A living, breathing Skitty, wearing Sammy's collar. Spring was bewildered, but above all else, completely and utterly confused.

"Sammy… is that you?"

"Skitty!" And the Skitty ran and gave Spring a gentle headbutt in the chest, as she often did when she wanted to be pet while on top of the counter. So, Spring gently reached out his hand to pet her. Sammy, a Skitty, right in front of him. She pushed her head into his hand, and Spring gently started to pet her. Spring turned to look at his mom, who he saw staring extremely confused at what was happening in front of her.

"What… is that?"

"It's Sammy!"

"I could guess that, but, what IS she?"

"Huh? She's a cat, duh! …well, at least on the inside? This is a Pokemon called Skitty!"

Spring's mom gave off a laugh at that notion. "Very funny, Spring. I know you love Pokemon but this is pushing it a bit too far. Are you sure you’ve fully woken up?" She again reached for the remote to turn the TV back on. "Let's see if anyone has properly figured out what just happened."

"...that the disappearances from this morning have all returned, at least in mentality. They've been transformed into bodies that highly resemble monsters from the world wide sensation: Pokemon."

The Pokemon logo appeared on screen, with several images taken within the last hour or so of Pokemon all over the world being shown directly beneath it.

"Scientists world-wide are completely baffled by this sudden occurrence, and are looking to Nintendo and GAME FREAK for answers. Thus far, Nintendo has made a brief statement saying that they are just as surprised by this occurrence as the rest of us, but have had no hand in it. As for the social media side of things, the world is going absolutely crazy over this event, and have taken to tagging images of Pokemon as #TheSpring or #PokemonSpring. Many people who have found themselves reborn as a Pokemon have been giving interviews, using keyboards to convey their thoughts. They've started calling themselves ‘Pokefolk’, or just PF for short. They seem to recall nothing of their disappearance or their sudden shift of form. Most have said they simply recall going to sleep like normal then waking up in their new bodies, or even passing out in inopportune moments only to reappear there in the same position.” 

“This sudden Spring has created a new moral debate to arise regarding animals and plants that have turned into Pokemon. In most forms of Pokemon media before this sudden event, Pokemon were depicted as being captured by humans and trained to battle amongst each other. While this caused them harm of some sort, they seemed to enjoy the battles, and it appears that the same is true of Pokemon that have appeared in real life. Even some Pokefolk have expressed the desire to have some form of battles with the abilities their new bodies have given them. This causes a conundrum involving animal safety laws. The capture and ownership of Pokemon is another problem entirely, especially for Pokefolk. A debate on the matter is sched...” 

“Oh my god it really is Pokemon.” Spring’s mom put down the remote and proceeded to hold her head in her hands, trying to deal with this paradigm shift and all it entails.

Meanwhile, Spring was about to lose his mind in excitement. His hands jittered as he gently stroked the fur of his cat-turned-Skitty. The thing he had been passionate about for as long as he could remember had suddenly become real. What was going to happen next? It’s been less than an hour and apparently the entire world is already trying to deal with the consequences of The Spring. How will the world integrate with Pokemon? Will it be like the games, and people will have adventures trying to catch Pokemon and battle with them? Will it be like the Detective Pikachu movie and everyone will have a partner or two that just lives alongside them, like Sammy? What will happen to his school friends, who have presumably all became Pokefolk?

Spring checked his phone to see if he’d gotten any texts. Sure enough, most of his friends have replied that they’re fine, but they’re all Pokemon now. He let out a sigh of relief before realizing that he was probably going to be outcast from his friend group. It wasn’t going to be any fault of their own, but it was quite obvious. Why would they want to have fake battles with the videogames when all of them could have real battles with what they’ve been gifted.

Spring felt a sour twinge of jealousy with that thought. Why didn’t he get turned into a Pokemon? Why only his friends? What was the deciding factor? He picked up Sammy and sat down in a chair in his living room. Sammy looked up at him with a bit of confusion, tilting her head. “Skitty?”

Spring’s mom also chimed in. “Are you okay, Spring? You have that sort of puzzled look on your face that you get when you’re doing your homework.” Spring looked over at her, and she didn’t look much better either.

“I’m… trying to figure out why all of my friends got turned into Pokemon, but I didn’t.” That jealousy burned within him and he couldn’t quite shake it. As things are now, Pokefolk had gotten the sweetest deal he could possibly imagine as a Pokemon fan. 

He was restless as he slept that night.

“Spring, it’s time to wake up. School is back in session today.” Spring’s mom gently shook him awake.

Sammy gingerly lifted her head up from its perch on Spring’s arm before violently shaking it, the bell on her collar jingling loudly as she did. “Skitty?”

Spring also started waking up, lifting his head off of the sketchbook he had apparently fallen asleep on top of the night before. As expected, his friends had hardly interacted with him since The Spring, but he had seen them at the park having mock fights and having general fun. Without him.

He had been spending his days this past month trying to fend off his feelings by watching the Pokemon that lived around his house and the neighborhood, sketching them and just learning what he can about them. He’d filled up a few sketchbooks already, and had been making notes on his phone. He’d already noticed some inconsistencies between the games and the real Pokemon, but most of all he was interested in the bizarre occurrence of subspecies. He’d already started documenting three types of Pidgey in his neighborhood alone. It was similar to the Alolan or Galarian forms of Pokemon from the games, but much more subtle.

One subspecies of Pidgey had more oily feathers, and was more acclimated to fishing for food than foraging for bug types. At a glance, all of the subspecies looked like normal Pidgey at a glance, but just one thing about them was slightly different. It was fascinating and Spring had tried to document every single subspecies he could discern.

Unfortunately, today was the day when that research had to be cut short, school was finally being called back into session, with all Pokefolk and Humans originally enrolled returning. It seems like the school system had reworked curriculum and student interaction around the fact that some of the students could only say one word repeatedly.

Spring assured his mom that he was in fact getting up and getting ready for school. He slowly gets out of bed, putting on his clothes on and carefully packing his backpack. He looks at his 3DS and decides to leave it here, opting to grab his sketchbooks and a few extra pencils. He dons his shirt, shorts, a couple bead bracelets, his favorite beanie, and of course his neatly packed backpack, then he makes his way downstairs. His mom has made him a small breakfast of bacon and buttered toast, which he ate before waving goodbye and heading off to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a funny twist of events, the original version of this story was written around the release of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, and the idea of Alolan Pokemon hadn't yet been unveiled to the world. It's remarkable to see that my little 'subspecies' idea turned out to be a thing that actually existed in the Pokemon universe.
> 
> Also of great shock was Pokemon Go, which ended up proving that the original draft was much closer to the truth than the draft I'm writing now. Let's hope GAME FREAK isn't watching me over my shoulder, yeah?


End file.
